Bellevue, WA – The Board of Directors of the Pacific Northwest Golf Association (PNGA), acting upon a recommendation from the PNGA Championship Committee, has approved the use of distance-measuring devices by Local Rule in most of the association’s 2006 championships. The two competitions that are precluded from instituting the use of distance-measuring devices are the Junior Boys’ Championship and the Junior Girls’ Championship.
The United States Golf Association (USGA) and The Royal & Ancient Golf Club of St. Andrews (R&A), golf’s worldwide governing bodies, empowered competitions committees to allow distance-measuring devices in the Decisions on the Rules of Golf that went into effect on January 1, 2006. Decision 14-3/0.5 requires a Local Rule permitting the use of distance-measuring devices to be in effect. The approval from the PNGA Board of Directors gives the PNGA Championship Committee the ability to institute the Local Rule on a competition-by-competition basis.
"In making this recommendation to the Board, the Championship Committee struggled to find a good reason not to give this idea a try in our adult events," said Troy Andrew, PNGA Senior Director of Rules and Competition. "We felt that the ability to institute the Local Rule on a case-by-case basis would give us the necessary leeway to re-evaluate its use in case we find that it’s not in the best interest of one of our championships."
Contact:
Brice Waddell, Senior Director, Communications
206-526-1238
brice@thepnga.org
